A Love For Football!

Feb 7, 2010 Cool Stuff
Posted by admin

Undoubtedly some folks that might be reading this are wrinkling their brows at what they might think is a love letter to the mega-corporation-military-industrial complex’ bread and circuses MKULTRA-esque mind control machine, so be it. Yes, sports are meaningless distractions that the powers that be use to veil us from the horrors that are the mundanities of life and I am one of those that lives vicariously these through genetically magnificent, drug enhanced, armored psychopaths let loose on a concrete field covered in industrial outdoor carpet that is called the Grid Iron. I think we need distractions as humans, and if you are a person that tunes into the horrors of such stuff as AMERICAN IDOL and doesn’t recognize it for the same hit of opiate for the masses, for shame! That being said, let’s talk about football. Around my house as a kid sports were pervasive and while the old man had respect and love for all sports (particularly America’s passtime, a sport of which my father had one of the most treasured pieces of memorabilia, a signed picture of the Bambino) we were a FOOTBALL house! My father was a long suffering Giants fan and I am still a Pittsburgh Steelers fan in some ways because of him. I bet him my weekly allowance, $10 (a truly princely sum to an 8 year old circa 1979) that the Steelers would defeat the HATED Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII! They did 35-31 and comics were only .35 cents back then and among the gargantuan stack of 4 color adventure was Avengers #181, a milestone in and of itself! I have since been fiercely loyal to the Steelers and while the next year they were to go on and defeat the Los Angeles Rams (that’s right kids, LA Rams) the ensuing 1980s were not so great. Still football was the sport to which I most gravitated and still enjoy the most to this day. I can still remember points of my life with dear friends, watching the kick that went wide right from my bended knees at Caroline Maher’s house or discovering I wanted John Elway to actually win when he dove for the first down against Green Bay. I was watching the game with Angry Al Puco, one of the few men on the planet that has had the privilege to play QB to my Center, and the maniacs that rented a mansion with him in Bay Crest! Boy, did the neighbors hate us! These are two that readily come to mind with Ralphie Parker-like nostalgia. If you are a non-fan that’s never witnessed those moments, YouTube ‘em and you won’t be disappointed! I also love watching old NFL Films simply for the voice-overs! The late Harry Kalas’ baritone still gives me goosebumps! And the level of play, let’s face it folks, there is no sport on the planet were more forethought and energy are put into every play than in the NFL! Period! The End! That’s why there is no way it can be played more than once a week! Those are some of the reasons I love football! Well, those reasons and wings! Have a Happy Super Bowl everyone!